In recent years, jet-propulsion personal watercrafts (PWC) have been widely used in leisure, sport, rescue activities, and the like. Typically, the personal watercraft is equipped with an engine mounted in an inner space defined by a hull and a deck, and a water jet pump that pressurizes and accelerates water sucked from a water intake generally provided on a hull bottom surface and ejects it rearward from an outlet port, thereby propelling a body of the personal watercraft.
There has been proposed a personal watercraft including a GPS (global positioning system) to enable a rider to correctly detect a location of the rider when the rider is planing over a wide area on the sea. U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,782 discloses a watercraft in which GPS antennae are installed separately from a GPS main system. To be specific, the GPS antennae are attached to a cushioning handle pad capable of absorbing a shock generated when, for example, the rider bumps against the handle pad during driving, an upper surface of a center storage cover, and others. A control unit and a display unit forming the GPS main system are integrated into a speed meter positioned in front of the handle pad.
In the watercraft disclosed in the above U.S. patent, however, since the GPS antennae are installed on the upper surface of the handle pad, the handle pad is incapable of effectively serving as a shock absorbing member, and the antennae tend to obstruct a view of the rider during driving of the watercraft. In addition, since the GPS antennae and the GPS main system are installed in the watercraft, the GPS cannot be utilized in situations other than driving of the watercraft. Furthermore, since the GPS antennae and the GPS main system are installed separately on the watercraft, the number of components and manufacturing cost is increased.